A new Human Services building in Adams County is one step closer to becoming a reality.

On Wednesday, the Adams County commissioners unanimously approved the bid specifications for the project, which will relocate several county entities to the former Herff Jones building in Cumberland Township. The specifications, broken down into four categories — general construction, HVAC, electrical and plumbing — will be made available to potential contractors for $250 and a written request.

The plans were prepared by Crabtree and Rohrbaugh, a Mechanicsburg architectural firm.

Interested parties have until July 20 at 11 a.m. to submit sealed bids for renovations of the building on Boyds School Road.

"This is a pretty big deal," Commissioner Randy Phiel said. "This is a culmination of several years of work and planning and vision. This is going to be a facility that I think will serve our residents for generations."

County officials are hopeful renovations will begin in the early fall for the first phase of the project, which includes departments like Children and Youth Services, so that some offices can start moving around the start of 2017. There will be three phases of the project: two major components and a third to put the finishing touches on the building, Phiel said.

The commissioners believe this will be an attractive project for contractors because it is an inside renovation, making weather a non-factor during the construction period.

The specifications feature intricate details in the plans for the building "right down to the kind of ceiling tile you're putting in," Commissioner Marty Qually said. This will help in soliciting fair and accurate bids from companies.

By law, the county commissioners must accept the lowest bid for the project as long as the application is filled out properly and the company has the means to carry out the project, Adams County Solicitor John Hartzell said. Bidders will have 48 hours to withdraw their plans.

"If we're not happy, we can reject," county manager Albert Penksa said.

The bids will be announced at a public meeting at 1 p.m. on July 20 in the Adams County Courthouse. Qually said that the acceptance of the bids does not mean the commissioners will make a decision on that date, as he is expecting a "cart full of boxes."

The date for accepting bids was extended a week so the relocation of District Judge Mark Beauchat's magistrate office could be pushed into the second phase of the building's renovation. The commissioners unanimously voted on Wednesday to extend the lease of the Highland Township office for four months with an increased cost.

"It gives us time to get the Human Services building done," Phiel said.

The lease for the building expires on Jan. 1, and extending the lease will make the first phase of the Human Services project less expensive and jammed for time, Hartzell said. The lease will cost an additional $500 per month, totaling around $13,000 from January to April.

"Until the building is done, we don't have to house that office temporarily somewhere else," Phiel said.

These shifting dynamics are why a new Human Services building took several years to develop. The county pursued many avenues for the project, but above all aimed to "get it right," Phiel said, adding that there have been "a million moving parts to this."

"I think we're in the same place as we were last year, just with a better project," Qually said.